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Women's Suffrage/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim and Moby are waiting to vote in a class election. Moby pokes Tim. MOBY: Beep? TIM: I'm not telling you who I'm voting for. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Because I don't want to! (reads from a typed letter) Dear Tim and Moby, when did women get the right to vote? From, Alice. Well, it depends on what country you're talking about. An image shows an American flag and a map of the United States. TIM: In the U.S., the 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to vote, and it was officially passed in 1920. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, it doesn't seem like a big deal now but women really had to fight for that basic right. An image shows a colonial woman with her son and daughter. TIM: Traditionally, a woman's role in society was to stay at home and care for her family. And often, women weren't considered educated enough in local or national affairs to vote. An animation shows a woman in Ancient Greece watching men stuff votes into a ballot box. TIM: Even in the earliest democracies, the right to vote was usually limited to free land-owning men. Over the years, some countries flirted with giving women limited voting rights. For instance, some women in colonial America, who were members of land-owning families, could vote in town hall meetings. An animation shows a colonial woman voting in a room full of men. TIM: But oftentimes these rights were later revoked, or taken away. The woman is crossed out and she puts her hand down. TIM: Things started to change for good in the nineteenth century. That's when the fight for women's suffrage really heated up. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Oh, suffrage is just a fancy word for the right to vote. In the mid-eighteen hundreds, women in various nations started to organize. At the time, their lives were really changing. Images show running water and a light bulb. TIM: Plumbing and electricity made running a home a little easier, and couples were having fewer children. More and more women were becoming educated and finding work outside of the home. Images show two women sitting at a school desk and working in a factory. TIM: Women were earning money and doing many of the same jobs as men. So they wanted equal rights. An image shows women and men earning money. TIM: In 1848, two suffragists, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, organized a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. An image shows these suffragists. TIM: It was the first of its kind in the U.S., and several hundred people attended, included a number of men who sympathized with the cause. An image shows a woman holding a document and speaking in front of a crowd of people. TIM: Unfortunately, though, the conference was ridiculed by many people. Still, many women continued the fight. More trouble came after the U.S. Civil War when American suffragists couldn't agree on a set of common goals. Some wanted to focus only on women's voting rights. But others, like Susan B. Anthony, wanted to fight for more than that. An image shows Susan B. Anthony. TIM: These women publicly disapproved of the Constitution's 15th Amendment, which granted former male slaves, but no women, the right to vote. An image shows the 15th Amendment. TIM: But they also campaigned to end gender discrimination in employment and divorce laws. In 1890, the two sides decided to put aside their differences and merge. An image shows a roomful of women. TIM: They formed the National American Woman Suffrage Association, or NAWSA. The NAWSA worked state by state, trying to get women the right to vote. Its members protested, wrote letters, and organized rallies and marches, all in an effort to bring about change. An animation shows women marching and carrying signs before large crowds. TIM: Despite their hard work, by the turn of the century only four U.S. states had given women the right to vote. A map highlights the four states where women were allowed to vote. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Actually, in other countries, women were starting to have more success. An image shows a map of New Zealand. TIM: Like in 1893, New Zealand became the first major self-governing country to give women the vote. An image shows a map of Australia. TIM: Australia became the second in 1902. In 1903, British suffragists led by Emmeline Pankhurst formed the Women's Social and Political Union. An image shows Emmeline Pankhurst. TIM: This women's suffrage group actually resorted to tactics like window breaking, harassment, and even bombing to get their message across; so, uh, their members sometimes got arrested. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, when World War I broke out, women's suffrage got the final push it needed. An image shows women in front of an American flag. TIM: Back in the U.S., some two million women in the NAWSA were working to support the war. So suffragists staged large marches and protests. An image shows women marching in the street, carrying signs that read, Votes for Women. TIM: They finally had a voice loud enough to catch President Woodrow Wilson's ear. Wilson urged Congress to pass the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. An image shows Woodrow Wilson. TIM: It went through several votes in the House and Senate, but it was finally ratified in the summer of 1920. An animation shows a hand dropping ballots into a box. The ballots have flags of different countries on them. TIM: Over the next few decades, more and more countries granted women's suffrage. Today, there are only a handful of countries that don't allow women to vote. Tim goes behind a curtain to vote. Moby follows right behind him. TIM: Hey, you can't come in with me. MOBY: Beep. Tim closes the curtain in front of Moby. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts